Alphonse of Poitiers

Alphonse of Poitiers or Alfonso or Alphonse (11 November 1220 – 21 August 1271) was the Count of Poitou from 1225 and Count of Toulouse (as Alfonso II) from 1247.

Coat of arms: Per pale azure semé-de-lis or (France ancient) dimidiating gules semé of castles or (Castile).

Alphonse was a son of Louis VIII, King of France and Blanche of Castile. He was a younger brother of Louis IX of France and an older brother of Charles I of Sicily.

The Treaty of Paris stipulated that a brother of King Louis was to marry Joan of Toulouse, daughter of Raymond VII of Toulouse, and so in 1237 Alphonse married her.

Rule

Honest and moderate, protecting the middle classes against exactions of the nobles, he exercised a happy influence upon the south, in spite of his naturally despotic character and his continual and pressing need of money. He is noted for ordering the first recorded local expulsion of Jews, when he did so in Poitou in 1249.

Aside from the crusades, Alfonso stayed primarily in Paris, governing his estates by officials, inspectors who reviewed the officials work, and a constant stream of messages.

When Louis IX again engaged in a crusade (the Eighth Crusade), Alphonse again raised a large sum of money and accompanied his brother. This time, however, he did not return to France, dying while on his way back, probably at Savona in Italy, on 21 August 1271.